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Bay Area Arts and Entertainment BlogFri, 13 Feb 2015 21:27:43 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1Free “Top Gun Anthem” on Guitar Hero IIIhttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/07/01/free-top-gun-anthem-on-guitar-hero-iii/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/07/01/free-top-gun-anthem-on-guitar-hero-iii/#commentsTue, 01 Jul 2008 19:47:24 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/?p=631As a 7-year-old, I remember Top Gun the game better than Top Gun the movie and the biggest reason why was my constant failure at landing the stupid plane on the aircraft carrier. Having no knowledge of angles and speed,… Continue Reading →]]>
As a 7-year-old, I remember Top Gun the game better than Top Gun the movie and the biggest reason why was my constant failure at landing the stupid plane on the aircraft carrier.
Having no knowledge of angles and speed, I didn't know that pointing your plane straight down and gunning it at 300 mph can send your jet into the Pacific. The only reason I stuck with the game so long was the "Top Gun Anthem." It was great.
You died for ninth time on the third mission and you hear the duh-duh-duh-du-duh-duh and it kind of inspires you to pick up the controller and play again. Well, now that same song comes to Guitar Hero III just in time for July Fourth.
Now, fans who don't want to blow stuff up to celebrate America's birthday can rock out to a pseudo-patriotic song. They can download it for free on Thursday, July 3.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/07/01/free-top-gun-anthem-on-guitar-hero-iii/feed/1Top Spin 3 impressionshttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/20/top-spin-3-impressions/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/20/top-spin-3-impressions/#commentsFri, 20 Jun 2008 19:39:45 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/?p=583

Before Wii Tennis captured everyone’s attention, 2K Sports’Top Spin was considered the height of video game racket sport. To many, it was the most robust tennis title around. Critics loved its gameplay. Fans found lots to do with its career… Continue Reading →

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Before Wii Tenniscaptured everyone's attention, 2K Sports'Top Spin was considered the height of video game racket sport.
To many, it was the most robust tennis title around. Critics loved its gameplay. Fans found lots to do with its career mode. But nowadays, all that accomplishment seems to have been overshadowed by the simple and easy-to-play Wii Tennis.
But two years after Top Spin 2, the developer, PAM Development finds, itself with a good chance of winning back some of that mind share.
The developer is releasing two version of the game. One focuses on simple and casual gameplay with the Wii and Nintendo DS, and the other zeroes in on graphics and a new control scheme. I had chance to check out both versions Thursday prior to its release next week.
What I found most compelling is the Wii version of the tennis title. It's good. Really good. It takes the same control scheme from Wii Tennis and modifies it, adding a layer of a control that Nintendo's title lacked.
"We wanted to keep tings simple and casual," producer Anthony Deluca said.
I imagine that this would be a the perfectbridge title for casual fans looking for the next step in their gaming experience.
What's interesting is that players hold the Wii remote exactly as they would a tennis racket for every part of the game. (ie. You have to hold it sideways to navigate menus, etc.) The motions they learn from Wii Tennis work just as well here, maybe even more so. The velocity of each return is calculated by how fast players swing the Wii remote. Depending on the tilt of the control, they can put different spins on the ball.
The other big change is that players can now move the players with the nunchuk. Finally, another layer of a control. This means that positioning becomes even more important as players move from end line to end line.
The last wrinkle of control is that some buttons are used for lobs and drops. It's not a move that overcomplicates the control; it actually makes the game better, adding more strategy.
After playing a match or two, I felt that this would be a welcome step for fans of Wii Tennis who may want something more.
As for the Xbox 360 version, the controls are obviously not as intuitive but there are changes. The biggest of which is the fact that players have to hold down button and release them to strike a return. It takes a while to get used to because there isn't a simple response as you would expect.
Players have to hit the button before the serve and then release it to swing. This makes timing and position even more important in Top Spin 3 (as if it wasn't already).
When it comes to the character creations, the game has one of the more of robust editors I've seen and the best part is that it's simple to use. Players pick a height and weight. They can can customize their characters with tattoos and different apparel.
But the best feature is the face customization. Instead of using bars and different categories that mean nothing to the average player. PAM focused on points in the face that players can choose and modify. It seems robust and conceivably someone could make a tennis star that looks like Jean-Luc Picard with no problem.
As had always been the case, fans can take these creations online and offline and earn them experience points. Some of the other features in this series didn't make it to the title like the promotional work.
Online, tennis fans will be able to compete with each other for the No. 1 ranking. But the best part of this is that the rankings reset every two weeks so that even if players just got into the game, they still have a chance at being the top player in the world (for that two weeks).
Overall, Top Spin 3 is shaping up to be a good addition to the series. Look for a review in the next couple of week.]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/20/top-spin-3-impressions/feed/4Wozniacki007.jpgTop Spin 3Top Spin 3Pshaw, EW’s Top 10 Games of All Timehttp://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/19/pshaw-ews-top-10-games-of-all-time/
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/19/pshaw-ews-top-10-games-of-all-time/#commentsThu, 19 Jun 2008 17:31:25 +0000Gieson Cachohttp://www.ibabuzz.com/videogames/?p=577

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Entertainment Weekly -- the magazine my girlfriend loves to read -- will have its 1000th issue, and to celebrate, they're releasing its list of 1,000 best of movies, books, albums, entertainment moments and, wait for it, ... video games.
So what does the MSM (mainstream media) think is the top 10 games of all time? Well here's the list.
1 Tetris
2 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3 Doom
4 Super Mario World
5 Guitar Hero
6 Street Fighter II
7 Super Mario Kart
8 GoldenEye 007
9 Grand Theft Auto IV
10 Metal Gear Solid
Eh, it's a good list if you're older than 30 and haven't picked up a controller in five years. I wouldn't put Tetris on the top though. I'd kind of re-mix this list and add some others. It's funny how the most recent games on this list are Guitar Hero and Grand Theft Auto IV. I think GTAIV should have been replaced with San Andreas and moved up a couple of spaces to maybe No. 2.
GoldenEye 007 should be replaced by Halo. Super Mario Kart should be replaced by Gran Turismo. Hmm, here's that same list and we'll fix it up a bit there. OK.
What Entertainment Weekly's Top 10 should have looked like:
1 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
2 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
3 Tetris
4 Super Mario 64
5 Doom
6 Guitar Hero
7 Street Fighter II
8 Gran Turismo
9 Civilization II
10 Pokemon]]>http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2008/06/19/pshaw-ews-top-10-games-of-all-time/feed/2Entertainment Weekly